Kapil SIbal pitches for new spectrum allocation policy

Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that the government was mulling over removing the concept of allocating start up spectrum to wireless carriers and shift towards a more transparent process based on market demand.

The move would translate into making the operators acquire licenses and spectrum separately.

At a meeting between with telecoms sector stakeholders, Sibal said that the country was heading towards migration to a unified licence regime where the spectrum will be made available only through market driven process.

At the meeting, part of his 100-day-plan to make the telecoms sector more transparent and efficient, Sibal invited views from the industry players on a number of issues at the round-table conference here.

While the delinking of spectrum and licensing was on top of the day?s issues, a softer framework for rollout obligations, allocation of spectrum to existing players and fees charged by the government were also on the 15-point agenda.

The government said that work on framing a New Telecom Policy (NTP) was under way and feedback from such interactions will provide valuable input to the policy formation both for the policy and recommendations of the telecoms watchdog, Trai.